Manzanita report for 06/19, 06/20

I fished Manzanita from 1:30 to 4:00 on Sunday and from 10:30 to 3:30 on Monday. On Sunday the "fishing" was good but the "catching" was pretty dismal. In 2 1/2 hours I hooked 7 fish but landed only a single 15-inch brown. The conditions were good with cloudy skies, light winds (very unusual) and mid-60's temperature. I was indicator fishing from shore with a Callibaetis nymph. The problem was a large weed bed in front of me with a large submerged log. All six fish that I lost got tangled in the weeds or the log and were able to free themselves.

On Monday the "fishing" was slower but the "catching" was a bit better. I landed 3 15-inch browns. Two were caught on a large black ant and one was caught on a Callibaetis nymph. The two browns caught on a dry fly were easier to land since I could keep them from diving into the weeds. Monday the conditions were a bit tougher because the wind was swirling all day making long casts and accurate cast more difficult.

Manzanita appears to be changing. It seems that the percentage of browns versus rainbows has increased the last several years. Also, the average size of the fish seems to be increasing. The first fish I lost was easily 17+ inches and I saw a float tuber land a 19 inch rainbow. The average fish appears to be close to 15 inches.

Was there any hatches?



We had the same problem many years ago loosing fish in the weeds.

In the 1970s we had a good afternoon Callibaetis mayfly hatch using #16 paraduns on 6x tippet.

We were in 8' anchored prams so we had a little better chance of landing some of them.

Back then, before indicators, we fished dries, emergeres in the film and just under the surface and leeches on a full sinking type 3 line.

There was a VERY sparse hatch each day that I presume were callibaetis. As a consequence risers were VERY sporadic. I began fishing Manzanita probably in the early 80's when the callibaetis hatch was very reliable. From what I've seen the past 6 or 8 years those prolific hatches are pretty much long gone. The only reason I put on an ant was that I hadn't gotten a single hit nymphing and I hoped to drum up a fish or two on a dry. The Fly Shop report said that ants and termites might be hatching soon so I put on an ant.